3 Lakers who simply have to play better (not named Russell Westbrook)
By Jason Reed
2. Patrick Beverley
Patrick Beverley was the biggest acquisition that the Los Angeles Lakers made this past offseason as the team traded Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Jonnson for him. This not only added a player that this roster needed but freed up some future money as they swapped THT’s two-year deal for Beverley’s one-year deal.
Every great teamed needs a fired-up player that can rally the troops in key areas of the game. That wasn’t the only void that the Lakers needed to fill as the team needed perimeter defense and they got that in droves with Beverley.
Beverley has been pretty solid on the defensive end of the court for the Lakers this season. It might not be the best defense of his career but with his age, the team has to be happy with the production it is getting out of Beverley on that side of the court.
The problem is the offensive side of the court. While Beverley has been solid defensively, he has been really bad on the offensive end and is part of the reason why the Lakers’ offense is one of the worst in the league early on.
Defenders simply don’t have to respect Beverley from beyond the arc and when you add that to the floor spacing problem that already exists with Russell Westbrook, it starts to become a mess. It was a warning sign that Beverley was the team’s best three-point shooter when they traded for him and those warning signs are coming to fruition.
Los Angeles does not need Beverley to be this overly dynamic offensive player. They just need him to hit his shots and be a respectable threat for other teams to worry about.